


Fire

by NYWCgirl



Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate ending to S5E1 ‘At what price’, Fire, Firefighters, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4381280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the gold coin heist, Neal drives of with the fire team towards a building fire, Mozzie is left standing in the streets of New York alone without the gold coins…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I know that fire fighters are a close community, especially the squads, so I always thought it was strange that nobody questioned Neal´s presence at the emergency in the episode, especially since he is the only one with an oxygen tank on his back…but OK, this is TV and fanfic, so we will twist daily life a little bit for the sake of the story.  
> This story fills the ´Fire´ square on my h/c bingo card.

“Hey, I need to take those tanks.”

“I will take care of them.” Neal waves dismissively and walks towards another fire truck. He just got out of the building with the gold coins. He just needs to drop of the oxygen tanks with Mozzie and they are home free.

“I´m talking to you, come on, no joking around. We´ve got a call.”

Neal rethinks his exit strategy. If he doesn´t respond, it will raise alarm bells and with all the cops around, this is not a good thing. He turns around and walks back to the caller. It turns out to be a younger fire fighter, probably a rookie.

“Hey, can I catch a ride with you guys, seems like my team already left.”

“Yeah, no problem, we will figure it out later how to get you back to your squad.”

Neal lets the oxygen tank being pulled of his shoulders and he jumps into the fire engine. When everyone is insight, they pull into traffic and the sirens go on. Neal is both excited and scared, this is what it must feel like, the adrenaline of knowing something is going to happen and not knowing what it is… It is so different from his well-planned heists.

He looks around the cabin and see that one of the older fire fighters is watching him. He smiles back.

“What´s your name 177?” the older man calls out.

“Nick”

“OK Nick, as you are the new guy in this team, you will stay with Rick, he is my most experience man. I know what my men will do, I don´t know you, so stay with him, understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“The building is on fire, assumed to be a gas leak. There was an explosion, and we are waiting for the gas company to turn off the gas supply. Three people are still missing, two children are supposed on the first floor, one man on the second. Rick, Nick, you look for the children on the first floor. Jarvis, you and Vincenzo go to the second, OK?”

Before Neal can think about it more, the engine stops in front of a building that is smoking from doors and windows. While Neal gets out of the truck, he is pulled to the side, and a fresh oxygen bottle is placed on his back. He places the mask on his face and feels a rush of cool air pouring into the mask when he opens the tank. He is checked over by the driver, and he feels some tucks and pulls on his coat, and then the guy is standing in front of him and gives him a thumbs up. Neal guesses, it his sign that he is OK to go inside.

He walks with the rest of the guys inside, and is struck by the lack of sight. The smoke is everywhere and he can´t see a thing. The roaring of the fire and the creaking of the house make it almost impossible to communicate and give Neal an eerie feeling, but Rick, the guy in front of him, gives hand signals that are clear, so they proceed going deeper into the building.

When they reach the third apartment where the children are presumed to be, Neal is in awe that Rick managed to get there through the thick smoke. Rick kneels down next to the door and Neal does the same on the opposite side. He can vaguely see Rick feeling the door. And then he nods, so Neal gently opens the door and Rick peers in, he gives the thumps up signal and Neal enters the apartment, they carefully walk in and check the different rooms, but can´t find any children until Neal thinks he hears someone coughing. He taps Rick on the back and points at the bathroom. Neal walks over and opens the door and there they are, two kids, huddling in the bathtub. Rick quickly opens the tab and pulls towels from the towel rack, he soaks them and raps them around each child.

Neal tries to reassure the girl he stands next to, but realizes, she isn´t hearing him with the mask on. Rick has lifted the boy and Neal takes the girl in his arms and follows Rick out of the apartment. But in the hallway, the smoke is much thicker and he loses sight of Rick. Suddenly he feels a wall and he starts feeling it with one hand, but then realizes that he doesn´t know whether he is moving towards the outside or the inside of the building. He can´t second guess and pushes on in the hope that he is actually walking to the exit of the building. The girl in his arms is getting more limp and dead weight. Neal can feel it getting hotter and suddenly flames break through the smoke. Neal startles and takes a few steps back. He checks his oxygen and realizes that he is getting low and looking at the girl, she isn´t doing any better.. So he shields her and runs through the flames and suddenly he is outside.

He doesn´t really realizes it until he feels the girl being taking from him arms and then he is on his knees. The mask is pulled from his face and water is run over his neck and head. He feels his vision blurring in and out but the water feels good.

“You did good, Nick.”

Neal wants to respond, so he gets up but when he straightens out, his vision greys out and he doesn´t feel the hands that catch him.

When he wakes up he is still on the grass outside the building. An oxygen mask is placed on his face and a cool wet towel is placed in his neck. He sits up and this time he feels OK.

“Take it easy, Nick, you are suffering from heat exhaustion. You will be fine, just rest.”

Neal doesn´t trust his own voice and just waves to acknowledge the captain. Suddenly a paramedic is kneeling next to him and a familiar voice addresses him.

“You really needed to play the hero, didn´t you?”

“Hey Mozz.” Neal gives him a tired grin.

“You saved a child. I´m proud of you, but it is time, we get out of here.”

“Lead the way.”

“Hey captain, I am taking Nick with me, I want to keep an eye on him, to make sure.”

“OK.” The captain gives them a wave and turns his attention to the fire once again.

Mozzie gives Neal a hand getting up and escorts him towards one of the ambulances.

“Where did you get the uniform, Mozz?”

“Plausible denial, Neal.”

Neal smiles when he gets in the ambulance and Mozzie gives him the oxygen, which he happily accepts. While Mozzie pulls away from the scene, Neal lies down on the gurney and lets himself be rocked asleep by the moving van. He will think of a plan to get the gold coins back, tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

A day later, Neal is lying on his couch when there is a knock on the door. He gets up and walks over. It isn´t Mozzie, so probably Peter. He opens the door and Peter walks in with a six pack of beer.

“Hey Neal, guess what?”

“What?” Neal looks with his most innocent smile up at Peter.

“I was watching some local news station and they featured a fire. Three people were saved from the burning building, an elderly man and two kids.”

Neal looks away to compose himself and then back to Peter. “Glad we have the fire department, they are true heroes.”

“Yes, they are, but guess what, while I was watching the news, two people looked very familiar.”

“Well, cops and fire fighters meet up all the time, don´t they?” Neal didn´t like where this was going. Had he being filmed? He hadn´t seen any camera crews, but then again, he hadn´t paid much attention to anything when he got out of the building.

“The four fire fighters that got the people out are real heroes, the building collapsed right after they were out.”

“Did it?” Neal hadn´t realized, he had been taken away by Mozzie and never checked the news.

“But you know what the strange thing is?”

“No, but I have a feeling you are going to tell me.”

“The fire fighter that rescued one of the children suffered from heat stroke, he needed medical attention. Luckily for him there was a paramedic.”

“Lucky him.” Neal really didn´t like where this conversation as going.

“The paramedic and fire fighter looked awful familiar to me.”

“Did they?” Neal knew the gig was up, Peter was like a hunting dog, once on a track, he wouldn´t let go until he got what he wanted.

“Yeah, they did.”

Neal walks over to the table where Peter placed the beer, hands Peter one and taking one himself.

“Must have missed that news, by the sound of it, the guy is a hero.”

“He sure is, and the strange thing is, he belongs to none of the fire houses. The captain of the 177 gave a statement for the news, that they couldn´t identify the mystery fire fighter.”

“Well, the girl is safe isn´t she?”

“Hmmmhmm.” Peter hums while he takes a swig from the bottle. When it is empty, he stands up and walks towards the door.

And while Peter exits the apartment, Neal hears him say. “I never told you it was a girl.”

Neal knows he has made a mistake but smiles, he knows better than to fool Peter. He will however need to find out if Peter knows about the gold coins.

And while Peter descends the stairs, he hears Peter call out. “You did good.”

 

 

 


End file.
